South Plains women top Howard, win eighth straight

LEVELLAND - South Plains College coach Michelle Wyatt now has evidence when she tells her team they can be a contender in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference women's basketball race.

The Lady Texans showed themselves over the last three days.

South Plains upended Howard College 53-50 Saturday at the Texan Dome, two days after it knocked off conference favorite Midland College, beating the Lady Chaparrals for the first time in three years.

Coming off a 9-20 season, South Plains was picked to finish fifth in the WJCAC.

"We're trying to convince the players they have a chance to be really good in the league," said Wyatt, whose team has won eight in a row. "With our sophomores and the lack of success we had last year, it's been a little harder to convince them of that. But with our start, that should give us some confidence, and I definitely think these two conference wins maybe backed it up a little bit."

South Plains (15-2, 2-0) just jumped into the NJCAA Top 25 at No. 20 and supported its position by turning back Howard (12-4, 1-2).

"Beating two teams who are picked higher than us does prove a lot to some people," said sophomore forward Shea Myatt from Dimmitt. "So I think it was a really two good wins."

Sophomore center Stephanie Moore from Anton led the Lady Texans with 15 points.

Midway through the second half, South Plains made an 11-0 run to lead 45-37. Myatt capped that burst with a 3-point goal, then made a long bucket and another 3 on the next two trips that made it 50-41.

The Lady Texans had enough cushion to weather a late charge, though Howard's Brittany Aikens' had a tying 3 attempt bounce off the rim at the final buzzer.

Myatt's eight points were all she scored, but they came at the pivotal point.

"Sometimes I go cold at the beginning of the game," she said, "but I'll hit a few whenever I need to, I guess, and get the team going. That's what happened. They took off from there. After I made those three shots, the team took over and got back where we needed to be."

South Plains trailed 26-22 at halftime, but freshman guard Alexius Dawn sparked the comeback with 10 points, all in the second half. Dawn scored eight points in the first 3:38 after the break.

"I just listened to my coach and did what she wanted me to do and got the ball to the open players," said Dawn, who also had six steals.

Senior guard Charlie Shorter scored 22 points and Mid-America Christian downed Lubbock Christian University at the Rip Griffin Center, handing the Chaparrals only their third loss in their last 11 games.

A.J. Luckey scored 17 points for LCU (10-7, 3-2 Sooner Athletic Conference), but the Chaparrals shot only 2 for 18 from 3-point range. They came in making an NAIA-best 42.4 percent of their 3s.

Kelsey Hoppel and Emily Atkins scored 15 points apiece and Nicole Hampton had 11 points and 14 rebounds as No. 1 Lubbock Christian University trounced Mid-America Christian, bouncing back from its first loss of the season.